Computing hero World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952, was previously granted a one-off posthumous royal pardon in 2013. However, the new law will disregard the offences of thousands of men.

Minister Gyimah said the Government would seek to implement the change through an amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill.

Anyone living who has been convicted of these now abolished offences could already apply through the Home Office to have their names cleared and criminal records expunged, under a process introduced by the Coalition government’s 2012 Protections of Freedoms Act.

However, the new law goes further in granting posthumous pardons, also introducing a statutory pardon for the living. in cases where offences have been successfully deleted through the disregard process.